Paul Washer - Some Missions Conferences make me sick!

Missions Sending: America is Dying -- Piper

John Piper on Unreached People-Groups

Paul Washer Video

I'm Not worthy to serve as a missionary!

Of course you are not!

AND...


You are even more unworthy than you think.


SERVE ANYWAY!


Remember that: Whereas the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin for our good, The Accuser prods us with our sins to defeat us, make us hopeless and to deflate our boldness in serving God.


Has Satan deflated your boldness and crushed your spiritual ambitions?


Don't let him. Pray, prepare and serve.

A Particular Baptist Missionary Learns from William Carey

A PARTICULAR BAPTIST MISSIONARY LEARNS FROM WILLIAM CAREY

The Lord in His sovereign grace has saved me for service in His kingdom. For this I praise Him. I also praise God for the godly influence of others in my life. I would love to be able to mention all who have blessed me and taught me in the Word. Here, however, I want to more narrowly focus my thanksgiving on the impact of one man – the missionary William Carey.

William Carey, called the “Father of Modern Missions” was a Christian who believed both in the absolute sovereignty of God, and also baptistic principles. Carey was a Particular Baptist. As a believer in that same grand tradition, Carey has influenced me greatly.

Below, I desire to concisely list some of the lessons William Carey has taught me concerning missions.




William Carey taught me the importance of hard work and perseverance despite hardship:

“I can plod. I can persevere in any definite pursuit. To this I owe everything.”

William Carey was “God’s Plodder.” Raised in poverty, lacking any of the advantages that wealth and social status often bring, Carey persevered despite hardship. Carey knew that he was invested in eternal business, and this drove him on through crushing failures, agonizing hindrances, lack of support, opposition at home and local situations fraught with disease and discomfort.




William Carey taught me the centrality and the comfort of knowing the sovereignty of God:


Despite the charge that Calvinism leads to the death of missions, Carey was a five-point Calvinist, and his Serampore Compact of 1805 reflects this, as does this letter of advice to a young missionary:

Remember three things. First, that it is your duty to preach the Gospel to every creature; second, remember that God has declared that His word shall accomplish that for which it was sent; third, that He can easily remove the present seemingly formidable obstacles as we can move the smallest particles of dust.




Carey taught me that God’s sovereignty motivates us to action:

Carey grieves for this fallen world. Carey writes that even the “Christian lands” present, “a dreadful scene of ignorance, hypocrisy, and profligacy,” and that, “every method that the enemy can invent is employed to undermine the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And yet, this dire state of affairs is not an excuse for hunkering down on the defensive. Rather, Carey, in the face of adversity, urges even more vigorous Gospel endeavors. In “Section Three” of his famous tome (with the very long title), An Enquiry into the Obligations of. Christians to use means for the Conversion of the Heathens, Carey calls us to vigorous action despite hardship and obstacles: “All these things are loud calls to Christians, and especially to ministers, to exert themselves to the utmost.”

Carey’s writing throbs with urgency. One can feel the beat of his great heart. Examine, for instance, the Serampore Compact of 1805, which fixed the principles of action for Carey’s small missionary band:

We are firmly persuaded that Paul might plant and Apollos water, in vain, in any part of the world, did not God give the increase. We are sure that only those ordained to eternal life will believe, and that God alone can add to the church such as shall be saved. Nevertheless we cannot but observe with admiration that Paul, the great champion for the glorious doctrine of free and sovereign grace, was the most conspicuous for his personal zeal in the word of persuading men to be reconciled to God. In this respect he is a noble example for our imitation. Our Lord intimated to those of His apostles who were fishermen, that he would make them fishers of men, intimating that in all weathers, and amidst every disappointment they were to aim at drawing men to the shores of eternal life. Solomon says: "He that winneth souls is wise," implying, no doubt, that the work of gaining over men to the side of God, was to be done by winning methods, and that it required the greatest wisdom to do it with success.

Carey, above, is passionately pouring out his soul. Even while trusting in a Sovereign God who foreordains whatsoever comes to pass, Carey begs for action! And these two things are not in the least bit contradictory.

Here is a great reminder for us - the evangelization of the world is not a cause for detached stoicism. A trust in God’s sovereignty is no excuse for detached coldness of heart concerning the state of those who do not know Christ. The Apostle Paul wept for his kinsman. The Lord Jesus wept for Jerusalem. Are we too sophisticated and refined to be driven to tears by the desperate peril of the unsaved? If we truly ponder the state of the world and the condition of poor souls, and if these concerns were ever-present and heavy on our minds such that we would give up our former lives and go to them, not only out of compassion for the lost but out of love for the Saviour, is this then a mark of fanaticism, or rather a mark of very sane and logical priorities? William Carey has taught me the sober sanity of that strange compulsion called the missionary call.



William Carey taught me that I should have a vigorous theology regarding the use of means:

In Carey’s “Introduction” to his Enquiry, he urged his readers to “use every lawful method to spread the knowledge of his Name.” Carey was not a pragmatist, but he was a practical innovator within the limits of Scripture. Carey was not merely academic but activistic. He did not merely theorize and defend missions with his pen, he initiated new efforts. He urged “fervent and united prayer” and encouraged the continuation of the Concert of Prayer. He tabulated all the known people-groups of the world and their state of existence in “Section Three” of his Enquiry, so that he could both pray for them, and so that others might become aware of these teeming masses of unevangelized humanity and efforts could be made to reach them. This extraordinary effort in “people-group mapping” predated modern missiological efforts like the Joshua Project and Operation World by 200 years. He wrote extensively in an effort to promote missions and also advocated “penny subscriptions” to fund the work of mission societies.




Carey taught me not to fear missionary societies:

In “Section Five” of his Enquiry, Carey proposes the following:

Suppose a company of serious Christians, ministers and private persons, were to form themselves into a society, and make a number of rules respecting the regulation of the plan, and the persons who are to be employed as missionaries, the means of defraying the expense, &c.&c. This society must consist of persons whose hearts are in the work, men of serious religion, and possessing a spirit of perseverance; there must be a determination not to admit any person who is not of this description, or to retain him longer than he answers to it.
From such a society a committee might be appointed, whose business it should be to procure all the information they could upon the subject, to receive contributions, to enquire into the characters, tempers, abilities and religious views of the missionaries, and also to provide them with necessaries for their undertakings.

And then he concludes;

I would therefore propose that such a society and committee should be formed amongst the particular baptist denomination.


In 1792, The Particular Baptist Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Heathen was formed, and within the lifetime of Carey, dozens of missionary societies sprang into being, giving legs to local churches. An explosion of missionary sending resulted.

This formation of missionary societies should not be viewed as a totally new and unbiblical innovation. In the book of Acts we see the highly fluid advancement of the Gospel and the itinerant nature of many of the missionary bands, to include the Apostle Paul and his “fellow-workers.” We see churches forming, and yet we see these apostolic bands being sent out from the churches to plant new churches, voluntary associations of sent-out Christians laboring together in the specialized task of planting new churches and taking the Gospel to The Nations. Throughout the centuries, as the life and doctrine of the Church morphed into the corrupt Leviathan of Catholic Medieval Christianity, the content of the Gospel was corrupted, and yet something of the apostolic function of these early missionary bands was preserved in the Catholic missionary orders, and these orders acted as sending structures which spread Catholicism as far as India, China and Japan, long before William Carey was even born.


I want to ask you a question: Why is William Carey hailed as the “Father of Modern Missions?”


He was not even the first to go out. The Moravians went out many decades before Carey. Carey was not even the first missionary to India. And the Catholics, with the Holy Orders as their “legs” of proselytization, had already preceded the Protestants to India and China by hundreds of years and even used the lack of Protestant missionary sending as a proof of the spiritual bankruptcy of the Reformation. So what makes Carey distinctive?

William Carey is the “Father of Modern Missions” because he helped to promote the use of “means” in reaching the heathen. He helped put feet to the Gospel and helped revive a sending structure for missions. Carey did combat the Hyper-Calvinism of his day, that is true, but Carey went further than merely promoting a motivation for missions; Carey also advanced a methodology of missions, specialized bands of sent-out-ones, mirroring the example of the missionary bands found in the book of Acts in their outward expansion towards the Uttermost Parts of the World. Carey is the “Father of Modern Missions” because he restored the outward impulse of Christianity by advancing the idea that voluntary associations of missionaries could be sent out from local churches and then, once on the field, could work together for the advance of the Gospel in small and specialized teams.

If trading companies could organize to travel to far flung shores, Carey reasoned, surely our charter is much greater.




Carey exulted in Gospel success – no matter by whose hand the Lord wrought it:

The mark of Christian maturity is seen in one’s degree of love and charity towards others, especially to fellow Christians. William Carey was a Particular Baptist, and yet his close identification with this branch of Christianity in no way marred his happiness over the Gospel success of other Christians. From “Section Five” of the Enquiry, we see Carey’s generous spirit:

I wish with all my heart, that everyone who loves our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, would in some way or other engage in it [his proposed missions endeavors]…There is room enough for us all, without interfering with each other; and if no unfriendly interference took place, each denomination would bear good will to the other, and wish, and pray for its success, considering it as upon the whole friendly to the great cause of true religion...”

Carey was a well-wisher to all Christians who were engaged in world missions.




Carey taught me that needs at home should never become an excuse for the neglect of needs overseas:


In Section One of his Enquiry, Carey deals with this very common hindrance to missions:

It has been objected that there are multitudes in our own nation, and within our immediate spheres of action, who are as ignorant as the South-Sea savages, and that therefore we have work enough at home, without going into other countries.

Carey answers deftly:

That there are thousands in our own land as far from God as possible, I readily grant, and that this ought to excite us to ten-fold diligence in our work, And in attempts to spread divine knowledge amongst them is a certain fact; but that it ought to supersede all attempts to spread the gospel in foreign parts seems to want proof. Our own countrymen have the means of grace, and may attend on the word preached if they choose it. They have the means of knowing the truth, and faithful ministers are placed in almost every part of the land, whose spheres of action might be much extended if their congregations were but more hearty and active in the cause: but with them the case is widely different, who have no Bible, no written language, (which many of them have not,) no ministers, no good civil government, nor any of those advantages which we have. Pity therefore, humanity, and much more Christianity, call loudly for every possible exertion to introduce the gospel amongst them.

Oh, how I wish with William Carey that we could gain a “ten-fold diligence” both at home and abroad!




Carey taught me that we are never to separate Good Words from Good Works:

For Carey there was no dichotomy between preaching and humanitarian labors. Fear of the Social Gospel has led many Christians to falsely dichotomize preaching the Gospel versus doing good works. Yet the example of Christ was that he went to all the villages, teaching and healing the people (Matthew 9). This pattern of Christ was also reflected in the life of William Carey, who was a missionary, linguist, humanitarian, moral reformer, and educator. He not only preached and translated the Scriptures, but also helped to outlaw infanticide in 1802 and then end the horrible practice of Sati, widow burning, after 25 long years of struggle in 1829. Even before he reached the mission field, Carey also strongly supported the efforts of Wilberforce to end the evil slave trade, and once in India he helped establish schools for females. True religion entails proclaiming the Gospel, but also entails caring for the widow and orphan, opening your mouth for the helpless, and practicing justice and mercy.

Carey had a large heart and sought not only the best for all persons, and also desired the best for all aspects of that person, both body and soul.



Carey taught me to evaluate culture in light of Scripture, and to be free from race prejudice:

Carey was compelled to reach distant shores because of the overwhelmingly good news of the free grace of God, the only thing on earth which makes men to differ. Some of his countrymen, motivated by colonial gain, had a dim view regarding the innate intelligence and morality of indigenous peoples. Because they were more cunning in their pursuit of filthy lucre and trade, they often assessed the Indians as their inferiors. Carey, due to Scripture, could escape the trap of merely judging one culture by the standards of another fallible culture, and could shine the light of Scripture on all cultures.

Again, from his Enquiry:


Barbarous as these poor heathens are, they appear to be as capable of knowledge as we are; and in many places, at least, have discovered uncommon genius and tractableness; and I greatly question whether most of the barbarities practised by them, have not originated in some real or supposed affront, and are therefore, more properly, acts of self-defence, than proofs of inhuman and blood-thirsty dispositions.

Carey sympathized with local populations and even bemoaned the evils caused to them by his own Countrymen:

It is also a melancholy fact, that the vices of Europeans have been communicated wherever they themselves have been; so that the religious state of even heathens has been rendered worse by intercourse with them!

Carey was clearly not an agent of cultural oppression, nor a purveyor of mere Victorian values. He sought to elevate the dignity of all people, and he bemoaned the sins of all, especially the sins of those who would hinder the salvation of Indian souls by living a life in contradiction to their profession:
Nay, in general the heathen have showed a willingness to hear the word; and have principally expressed their hatred of Christianity on account of the vices of nominal Christians.

As we engage foreign cultures with the Gospel, we must be ever mindful of Carey’s words. Foreign sins can seem much more hideous than our own due to their “foreign-ness,” while our all-too-familiar local sins, which we hug to our bosoms, have become tame in appearance by comparison. We must remember that we are to be emissaries of a heavenly kingdom.



Carey taught me to be intellectually curious about even non-theological matters:

Carey was a never-tiring hunter of information about the world in which he lived. He was not afraid of science or the cultures around him. As a boy, and even now, I am captivated by reports on indigenous cultures and exotic landscapes; I love National Geographic. William Carey’s heart, likewise, thrilled at the accounts of Captain Cook’s voyage, just as my own heart thrilled as I read of remote Indonesian villages. Carey immersed himself in botany, languages, and in local Indian culture. He was a demographer, producing one of the first tables of statistics regarding world population, contained in “Section Three” of His Enquiry. He established lending libraries in India, wrote articles on forestry, introduced modern printing to India. His interests were wide-ranging. When Carey’s son Jabez visited the East Indies, Carey begged him by letter, “Send me…live birds…small quadrupeds, monkeys, etc. Beetles, lizards, frogs, serpents…" Here is a man to whom I can relate!

God has given us two books; the book of Nature and the Book of Scripture, and we should delight in both, never being too heavenly to consider the heavens, nor thinking it too earthy to delight in the creatures that God has created here below; the excellencies of God being manifest in that He would create such a world as ours, and that it is so wonderful even in its fallen state. How glorious will the renewal of all thing be when the Creation can finally cease from its groaning (Romans 8:22)!




William Carey taught me to be spiritually ambitious:

“Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.”

Carey was ambitious for the Lord. Though some ridiculed him as an “enthusiast,” Carey would not be outdone by the zeal of the Papists, the greedy energies of the traders, or even the good example of the Moravians. His enthusiasm was godly, and can be seen even in the first section of his Enquiry.

Natural impossibility can never be pleaded so long as facts exist to prove the contrary. Have not the popish missionaries surmounted all those difficulties which we have generally thought to be insuperable? Have not the missionaries of the Unitas Fratrum, or Moravian Brethren, encountered the scorching heat of Abyssinia, and the frozen climes of Greenland, and Labrador, their difficult languages, and savage manners? Or have not English traders, for the sake of gain, surmounted all those things which have generally been counted insurmountable obstacles in the way of preaching the gospel? Witness the trade to Persia, the East-Indies, China, and Greenland, yea even the accursed Slave-Trade on the coasts of Africa. Men can insinuate themselves into the favour of the most barbarous clans, and uncultivated tribes, for the sake of gain; and how different soever the circumstances of trading and preaching are, yet this will prove the possibility of ministers being introduced there; and if this is but thought a sufficient reason to make the experiment, my point is gained.

Carey pointed to these exploits above and asked, “Why not us!” If traders can do all of this for greedy gain, and the Papists for a lie, why can’t our group of Particular Baptist Churches do the same?




As a Sovereign Grace Baptist believer in the theological tradition of Carey, I ask the same question, “Why not us! Why can’t we send even more than these?”




William Carey taught me that optimism is the correct attitude towards our missionary task:


“The future is as bright as the promises of God”

The Harvest is plenteous! When people ask whether I am amillenial, postmillennial or premillenial, I usually respond that my eschatological position is one of “optimism.” I heartily endorse Carey’s hopefulness when he writes, in “Section One” of the Enquiry, “God has promised the most glorious things to the heathen world by sending his gospel to them.”



Hear Carey’s enthusiasm one more time as we close:



“Though the superstitions of the heathen were a thousand times stronger than they are, and the example of the Europeans a thousand times worse; though I were deserted by all and persecuted by all, yet my faith, fixed on that sure Word, would rise above all obstructions and overcome every trial. God’s cause will triumph!”

GO! And make disciples!

The Prosperity Gospel is NOT the Gospel

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT ON MATTHEW 9:

Compassion and it’s results


36But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.

37Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;

38Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.


INTRODUCTION:

• A brother preached on this a week back, and it has stuck with me since. I cannot get away from it, and so I bring it to you.

What stuck?

This brother asked thw simple question, “Jesus saw the multitudes….DO YOU see the multitudes?”





SEEING THE MULTITUDES:

Let’s talk for a few minutes about really seeing the multitudes.

I know we speak of many of the unsaved as having eyes but not seeing and ears but not hearing. But could the same be applied to us concerning the unsaved? As we hurry about, as we drive, as we pass fellow men – each with a never-dying soul – are we really “seeing the multitudes?”

It is unnerving if we stop and sit, and watch and study the faces of those that we pass. Each one is a soul, each one has an eternal fate, each one’s days are quickly burning away like a candle. We are mists and vapors upon this earth.

I’ve travelled much this last month. How many cars have I passed on the highway? They have become merely competitors for my space on the road. How many people have I spent in close, close proximity to on airplanes – TOO close in fact to many of them. Each one of these passengers that I have sat next to possesses thoughts on eternity, religion, God. Each one will cease to breathe one day. Each one will answer to God. Every time the airplane ascends over St Louis, the view within my eyes encompasses a great area of land, the place of birth and the place of death to several hundred thousand people. And that number increases every day.


In W Jva, a heavily Mslm region, I climbed to the top of a mountain – a mountain that was on top of a mountain. The city of Bndng sits in a bowl that is in the highlands. There is a rim of higher ground around this bowl. And there are tall peaks all along the north side of the lip of this bowl of Bndng. (I took my friend Paul there. We crashed our motorcycle on the muddy mountainside trail…at least it didn’t roll over me like the time before. How dignified, heh?) Well, I climbed up there one day to escape – I was feeling pretty overwhelmed. A city of 2 million people amongst a people group of 34 million, with less than ½ of one percent professing Christ. Let me repeat that again: 34 million people, and less than one-half of one percent profess Christ. So, I sat up on that peak and looked down on this bowl containing 2 million people. And then… the peel of the mosque rang out; muffled but still clear, ALLAHU AKBAR, there is no God but God and Mhmd is His prophet. Hardly an inch of land in Jva where this sound does not reach 5 times a day. A bowl of 2 million people and the sound of dozens of mosques floating up like an odor to my mountain perch. Even here I could not escape.

I broke down and wept.




JESUS HAD COMPASSION: Me, being a person who is often hard-hearted and un-sympathetic was moved to tears when I truly grasped the enormity of the task, the urgency of the need, and my own smallness at this overwhelming feat. If a flawed person such as I can feel compassion for the lost, imagine what was in that great heart of our Loving Saviour as he beheld the multitudes. He had compassion.

I pray that we can be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ in this, and I would pray that God would cause us pain. I pray that God would cause us to weep as we truly realize how dire the situation is. The sovereignty of God should not be used to dry our tears. That predestinarian the Apostle Paul himself cried out and could even wish himself accursed for the sake of his kinsmen whom he loved. Jesus could weep over Jerusalem, knowing full well that that city must drink the cup of wrath to the uttermost. How I wish my stony heart could be moved like that.




PRAY THEREFORE: Jesus did not leave us without a remedy. Jesus did not merely leave us in our tears. Jesus tells us to pray.

In fact, Jesus tells us to beg. Jesus tells us to beseech, to plead to the Lord of the Harvest to thrust forth laborers. The manner of our prayer is to be fervent, forceful, heartfelt, from the bottom of our hearts. Our prayers should be desperate pleadings upon the mercy of God. This is no milquetoast prayer. Forceful language is used. BEG the Lord to thrust out laborers. BESEECH the Lord of the Harvest, PLEAD. This is the force of this expression. SOS! Emergency. Souls are at stake. The situation is urgent. Lord help.

Pray that the Lord will thrust out laborers: Equally forceful is what we are to pray for. We are to pray that the Lord of the Harvest will send forth laborers. Will thrust out laborers, Will ekballo, will throw out, eject with force, laborers for the Harvest. This is more than hoping that some will come in; this is going out to them. This is an outward thrust. This is our searching for sinners, this is us, as a church body, sending out those to gather in the Harvest. This is not being content with local concerns but always looking outward. Send forth laborers



This prayer results in action:

Notice how this prayer results in action. In the very next chapter we notice that many of those who themselves prayed in chapter 9, were sent out to work these Harvest fields in chapter 10. How can we pray and then not act? Prayer is the beginning of action, not an excuse for inaction. We have not because we ask not. But, surely the Lord is pleased to answer this prayer, which He Himself commanded us to pray.

The Lord is pleased to answer our prayers. And He answers through His church. Again, many of those who themselves prayed in chapter 9, were sent out to work these Harvest fields in chapter 10. They did not merely hope for some to wander into the fold. They did not wait for souls to come to them. Workers were sent out.

Many of them, themselves, were sent out in answer to their OWN prayers!

I would pray that this very thing would happen in our churches. Lord, mobilize us for missions. Let us pray for workers, and then let our churches become the answer to those very same prayer requests.


We have a promise that the Harvest is plenteous. Let us pray, and act, so that the truth may be thrust forth out from our midst into every dark place that still remain on this globe.

AMEN.

Christians are made for missions

You Were Made for Global Missions

John Piper - Is it safe to raise my kids on the mission field?

Missionaries Will Understand This

Below is an excerpt from John Piper....good answers to objections about going into missions (link provided below).


Also, see John Piper's "Doing Missions When Dying is Gain", also linked below after the excerpt:








Answers to Objections to Going into Missions

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By John Piper November 3, 2005


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1. “I am not smart enough.”

“Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:20-21)

“Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-27)


2. “My body and my personality are not strong enough.”

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)

“[Christ] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)


3. “I am not a good speaker.”

“Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” (1 Corinthians 1:17)

“Moses said to the Lord, ‘Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” (Exodus 4:10-12)


4. “I am afraid of the horrors I read about in the newspapers.”

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore (katartisei—“mend” or “repair” your horribly disfigured body when the lions in the coliseum are through with you), confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (1 Peter 5:8-10)


5. “I am afraid I won’t be fruitful”

Your responsibility is not to be fruitful but to be faithful.

“And [Jesus] said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” (Mark 4:26-29)

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)


6. “There is plenty to do here.”

True, but there is a division of labor and God calls some to MISSIONS, not just evangelism. The difference is seen in Romans 15:19-24:

“So that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I [Paul] have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named. . . Now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions . . . I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain.”

How could Paul say there was no room for work when there were millions in that region to be evangelized? Because evangelism is not missions.


7. “I am not married.”

The best spouse is found on the path of obedience.

“An excellent wife [or husband!] who can find? She [and he!] is far more precious than jewels” (Proverbs 31:10).

The finding is exceedingly hard. It will happen on the road of obedience.


8. “I fear that when I get there it might turn out I made a mistake and will come home with shame.”


Which is worse, shame for having endeavored to follow Christ in missions, or fear to venture? Shame before others for making a mistake will not hurt you; it will humble you and can make you more useful in a new situation. But fear will make you useless everywhere.

Consider Ecclesiastes 11:4 and what it says about risk:

“He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.”

Meaning: without taking the risk of sowing when the seed might be blown away and reaping when the rain might ruin the harvest, you will starve.

Oh, how precious is the freeing word of God,

Pastor John


http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2005/1312_Answers_to_Objections_to_Going_into_Missions/


http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByDate/1996/1813_Doing_Missions_When_Dying_Is_Gain/

THE UPWARD SPIRAL - How missions zeal leads to missions zeal, which leads to missions zeal

Missions zeal leads to missions sending, which leads to missions news and missionary visits, which leads to missions zeal

A zeal for missions in local churches leads to churches sending missionaries. This leads to churches supporting and then sending missionaries themselves. This leads to missions news and visits by missionaries and a heartfelt commitment by local congregations as they personally “own” the missionary task. This leads to missions zeal, which, again, leads to missions sending….
An upward spiral!

There is a truth in missions history, and it is this: God often calls missionaries by means of other missionaries. God often draws people into involvement in missions by means of involvement in missions.

Because of this, I have been very busy on the road!

As a missionary passes through local congregations, speaks and makes missions real to people, God often chooses this particular time to plant the missionary call in the listener’s soul. God often implants the missionary call into a soul after exposure to another missionary – like a virus!

I have a goal to mobilize and recruit more missionaries. I long to help fill some of the vast needs that I see every day overseas. My heart aches and I have wept over things that I have seen. I want you to come and weep with me; and also work!

I am aware that God works by means. One means by which God calls missionaries into service is by bringing a real, live missionary to talk to a church. For some reason, there are many Christians who want to serve in missions, but their ideas about possible missions service floats in their minds in a fuzzy way that is not actionable until a real, live missionary can be consulted. It often seems that, to make missions actionable, it takes the presence of a missionary, someone who people can see, hear, and ask questions to. Then, missions becomes real, tangible and doable.

I know that I am not eloquent or flashy. I think these deficiencies are actually advantageous to my task. How? This lack of smoothness allows people to see me for who I am, an imperfect servant whom God is using to advance His Kingdom. These deficiencies that others see in me might, in fact, embolden others to serve in missions; “If he can serve, certainly I can serve too.” And if the Lord is pleased to use even this aspect of my service, then I rejoice.

So, please join this upward spiral with me. Tell people about missions. Send me your questions. Let me speak to your group about missions. Put people into contact with me. If they are not impressed with me, then so much the better because, if I can serve, maybe they can too!

Good missions quote by Jim Elliot

“It makes me boil when I think of the power we profess and the utter impotency of our action. Believers who know one-tenth as much as we do are doing one hundred times more for God, with His blessing and our criticism.”

Lecrae - Send Me

I am an Ozark Hillbilly. I don't like rap. But I heard about Lecrae and I checked out his video, and I can praise God for it. He has solid lyrics and has been on the Al Mohler show and does a good inner-city work in Memphis I believe.

Below are the words. The beat might stretch some out of their comfort zones, but I guess the piano and Fanny Crosby might as well in some cultures.

I was drawn to the words and the passion and I will add this: I would love to see the black churches in the US make a reversal out of their predominantly bad theology and begin to once again engage in missions on the levels that they did prior to the Civil War, when many, many went to Liberia and other places in Africa as missionaries. Now, blacks make up 13% of the US population but only a fraction of the foreign missionary force. I would love for God to reverse this trend and I pray that God would mobilize this demographic:



Send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
lemme go lemme go!
(repeat x4)

i seen it with my own two,
there's no way i can show you
a perfectly poverty stricken people with no view.
And i bet you can't believe this,
they never heard of jesus.
Heard young butler, lil wayne, and young jeezy.

No one's signing up to go on missions this summa.
Rather sit at home and watch exibit pimp in a humma
while a nine year old is shot down.
No one's screaming 'stop now!'
no bridge illustrations for criminals who on lock down.

People deep in africa
looking for an answer bra'.
In china man,
they're dieing man,
until they know who died for sins.
So look what grace did.
Not for us to stay here
inside our comfort zones
at home in mama's basement.

Get out on the grind y'all.
Ain't no better time doll.
I know y'all read the great commission.
Let me just remind y'all:
make disciples of the nations.
Teach'm to obey the lord.
Have to lead someone to christ before i face the lord.

Send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
lemme go lemme go!
(repeat x4)

hey! After, 1,000 years in the west and the churches
get'n bigger daily without understand'n worship. (say what?)
Some regenerate but a lot ain't saved.
You walk outside and be surprised cuz the block ain't changed.
And the numbers they be get'n me.
Something just ain't hit'n them.
America ain't christian they practice'n the ritual.
That's why we should be missional.
Hey, what you think i'm spit'n for?
The united states is die'n
and in the east is looking pitiful.

Some places if they catch you
they'll arrest you.
They'll serve you,
but they still need the word too.
The gospel should be heard too.
We claim we ain't ashamed,
but we ain't hit the block up.
Were in our christian bubble,
while our brotha's get'n locked up.
Lord i wanna stock up,
pack a bag and walk up
in a country where my faith may get me shot up
anywhere i go, whether my city or far abroad,
i just wanna show' christ the risen holy god.

Send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
lemme go lemme go!
(repeat x4)

i know they're die'n in the streets over in the middle east.
Some kids sink in piece
others hold'n up a piece.
If the violence doesn't cease,
then at least the deceased
might know jesus as their savior as their bodies hit the streets.
And i know this is a graphic view.
And i pray that it's attack'n you.
Track'n you to act and do
what you see in the back illusion.
Mathew twenty-four and fourteen.
We should read it twice
before we think that life is just a battle
see we free in christ!
Look dawg! Life is more than church work and football!
What if you were dead and seen that christians overlooked y'all!
This is why we leave the couch
and leave the comforts of our house
to show a die'n world a god they'll probably never read about.

The great commission says make disciples of all nations.
Have we even made them in our own nation?
Come on christians!
Missions exist because worship doesn't.
People don't worship the god who made them.
We're ambassadors.
Let's go!

Send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
lemme go lemme go!
(repeat x4)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbVstiSoweA

A good video about missions and evangelistic motivation

Books on Spiritual Warfare - a very important missionary topic

The devil is real, is active, and is vicious.

We need not fall into Christo-animistic ritualism, fear, or the addressing of any spirits.

We rely on prayer, addressed to God, and in the normal means of grace.

Here are some books on the subject of spiritual warfare, a subject that is popular of late and also very important in missions.

VIDEO - Make History!

Make History from Acts1v8 on Vimeo.

VIDEO - What is an Unreached People Group?

What is an Unreached People Group? from Acts1v8 on Vimeo.

VIDEO - BEAUTIFUL FEET

Beautiful Feet from Acts1v8 on Vimeo.

VIDEO - Tears of the Saints

A powerful short film about the urgency of our Task.

Tears of the Saints from Acts1v8 on Vimeo.

Must all missionaries be pastors? An appeal for women workers.

The crying need today in missions is more elder-qualified long-term resident missionaries.

However, in our zeal to increase trained clergy and to send out pastor-educated men, let us not forget the great contributions of women in missions.



I have actually had people tell me that there is no role for women in missions except for in the role of a missionary wife.

I have actually had churches introduce my family as "Missionary T...J... and his wife....Teresa" - and it seems the impetus for this phaseology was the refusal to refer to a woman as a missionary.




THAT IS JUST SILLY!



If you eliminated all women from the mission field you would be eliminating well over 60% of the missions labor-force. YES, the MAJORITY of missionaries are of the female gender. The right man for the job turns out often to be a woman.


I suppose that Aquila should have just left his wife Priscilla at home and she deserves a rebuke rather than commendation for helping Apollos learn greater Gospel truth.




While only men should exercise ecclesiastical authority, why must we stress the restrictive verses of Scripture?

Why do we want to highlight what women cannot do, rather than all that they can do?



Okay, women cannot be pastors of churches, but they can teach women and children, many have done great work in literacy and translation, many have exercised compassion in medical ministries, schools and orphanages. Under the male ecclesiastical authority of a church, a women can fill a great number of roles. Are we enabling them to do so? Are we being more restrictive than Scripture in helping every member of Christ's Body to serve Him in their fullest capacity?


Here is one huge need right here:

Seeing that women in the Mslm world are often unable to be reached by male missionaries, missionary women may be the key to reach this large demographic of the world's population - Mslm women - perhaps a BILLION souls!

Prayer as a missionary warfare weapon

"Until you believe that life is war, you cannot know what prayer is for."

- John Piper



"The number one reason why prayer malfunctions in the hands of believers is that they try to turn a wartime walkie-talkie into a domestic intercom."

- John Piper.

A Wartime Lifestyle

Excerpt from "Commitment to a Wartime Lifestyle" by Ralph Winter



The Queen Mary, lying in repose in the harbor at Long Beach, California, is a fascinating museum of the past. Used both as a luxury liner in peacetime and a troop transport during the Second World War, its present status as a museum the length of three football fields affords a stunning contrast between the lifestyles appropriate in peace and war.

...On one side of a partition you see the dining room reconstructed to depict the peacetime table setting that was appropriate to the wealthy patrons of high culture for whom a dazzling array of knives and forks and spoons held no mysteries. On the other side of the partition the evidences of wartime austerities are in sharp contrast. One metal tray with indentations replaces fifteen plates and saucers. Bunks eight tiers high explain how the peacetime capacity of 3,000 gave way to 15,000 on board in wartime.

How repugnant to the peacetime masters this transformation must have been! To do it took a national emergency, of course. The survival of a nation depended on it. The essence of the Great Commission today is that the survival of many millions of people depends on its fulfillment.

But obedience to the Great Commission has more consistently been poisoned by affluence than by anything else. The antidote for affluence is reconsecration. Consecration is by definition the "setting apart of things for holy use." Affluence did not keep Bordon of Yale from giving his life in Egypt. Affluence didn't stop Francis of Assisi from moving against the tide of his time.

Will wartime priorities work?

The missionary tradition has always stressed a practical measure of austerity and simplicity, as well as a parity of level of consumption within its missionary ranks. But the same lifestyle is often seen as impractical among people back home. Widespread reconsecration to a reformed lifestyle with wartime priorities is not likely to be successful among homefront believers:

---so long as the Great Commission is thought of as impossible to fulfill

---so long as we think that the problems of the world are hopeless or that, conversely, they can be solved merely by politics or technology

---so long as our home problems loom larger to us than anyone else's

---so long as people enamored of western culture do not understand that Chinese and Muslims can become evangelical Christians without abandoning their cultural systems--just as the Greeks did in Paul's day

---so long as modern believers, like the ancient Hebrews, think that God's sole concern is the blessing of our nation

---so long as well-paid evangelicals, both pastors and people, consider their money a gift from God to spend however they wish on themselves rather than a responsibility from God to help others in spiritual and economic need

---so long as we do not understand that he who would seek to save his life shall lose it.



Ours is a save-yourself society if there ever was one. But does it really work?

Underdeveloped societies suffer from one set of diseases: tuberculosis, malnutrition, pneumonia, parasites, typhoid, cholera, and so on. Affluent North

America has virtually invented a whole new set of diseases: obesity, arteriosclerosis, heart disease, strokes, lung cancer, venereal diseases, cirrhosis of the liver, etc. And we're more than ever plagued with the social diseases of drug addiction, alcoholism, divorce, battered children, suicide and murder. Take your choice. Our divorce courts, prisons, psychiatric offices and mental institutions are flooded. In saving ourselves, we have nearly lost ourselves. How hard have we tried to save others?

The 20,000 members of the Friends Missionary Prayer Band of South India support 500 fulltime missionaries in North India. If my denomination (with its unbelievably greater wealth per person) were to do that well, we would not be sending 500 missionaries but 65,000. In spite of their true poverty, these Indian believers are proportionately sending over 130 times more cross-cultural missionaries than we are!

The statistics are always embarrassing: We spend as much on chewing gum annually as we do on missions. Our annual giving to foreign missions is equal to the amount we spend in a 52-day period on pet food. The comparisons aren't fair, of course, since fewer of our society are giving to the fulfillment of the Great Commission than are buying pet food.





But the pattern of our society is clear - we're much like Ezekiel's listeners:

"They come as though they are sincere and sit before you listening. But they have no intention of doing what I tell them to; they talk very sweetly about loving the Lord, but with their hearts they are loving money. . .

"My sheep wandered through the mountains and hills and over the face of the earth, and there was no one to search for them or care about them. . .

" 'As I live,' says the Lord God, '. . . you were no real shepherds at all, for you didn't search for them [my flock]. You fed yourselves and let them starve . . . Therefore,' the Lord God says: 'I will surely judge between these fat shepherds and their scrawny sheep . . . and I will notice which is plump and which is thin, and why!' "
Ezekiel 33:31; 34:36; 34:8,20,22b


God is speaking here of more than just food for the hungry; our whole lives may be "plump" while others' are "scrawny." We must learn that Jesus meant it when He said, "Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required."



I believe that God cannot expect less from us in our Christian duty to save other nations than we in wartime require of ourselves to save our own nation.








This article first appeared in the September/October 1994 issue of Mission Frontiers, U.S. Center for World Mission.

What are you doing TODAY to get to your goals in 3-5 years?

The journey of 1,000 miles begins with you getting off your butt and taking action.



Waiting on the Lord does not involve laziness or inaction. We are to be vigorous, aggressive and incessant as we wait. This waiting involves preparation, research, and prayer.


If you want to go into missions, what are you doing right now about it?

Suggestions: (1) pray about it, (2) talk to your elders about it, (3) take the Perspectives Course, (4) Read current missions books, (5) read about the needs of the world, (5) Research the doctrines and philosophies of ministry for various mission boards (start with World Team, www.worldteam.org),

and,

(6) realize that you will not leave the field a week after you decide for missions....the process of becoming a missionary takes several years.





There are many preliminary mountains to climb before you even reach that final summit.

You had better start preparing now.

The sin of letting past sin make you hesitant for future service

Ok, so you were a sinner before you were saved.


GET OVER IT!


Some people are not bold to serve the Lord because they feel as if past sin has taken the wind out of their sails.


This is a tool of the devil for making you idle, lazy and timid in doing great things for God.

If you boldly sinned before conversion, you should twice as boldly serve after conversion





Remember, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin to save us and put us into service; Satan accuses us to cripple us and defeat us.


WHO ARE YOU LISTENING TO?




Listen to William Gurnall's advice on how to be a Christian in Complete Armor:

His [the devil's] aim is to discredit not the sins but the saints. Here his chief tactic is to deliver his accusations as if they are an act of the Holy Spirit. He knows a charge from God’s cannon wounds deeply; therefore, when he accuses a conscientious Christian, he forges God’s name on the missile before he fires it. Suppose a child were conscious of gravely displeasing his father, and some spiteful person, to harass him, wrote and sent him a counterfeit letter full of harsh and threatening accusations, copying the father’s name at the bottom. The poor child, already painfully aware of his sins and not knowing the scheme, would be overcome with grief. Here is real heartache stemming from a false premise - just the kind of thing Satan relishes.

Satan is a clever investigator. He closely observes the relationship between you and God. Sooner or later he will catch you tardy in some duty or faulty in a service. He knows you are conscious of your shortcomings and that the Spirit of God will also show distaste for them. So he draws up a lengthy indictment, raking up all the aggravations he can think of, then serves this warrant on you as though sent from God.

Re-read the Scriptures:

And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him be said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord stood by.”

Zechariah 3:1-5.

4 bad reasons why people drop out of the pursuit of missions

Many investigate missions but few actually go. Here are some bad reasons why people drop out of the process:


(1) THEY NEVER TRANSFORM THEIR THOUGHTS ABOUT GOING INTO MISSIONS INTO CONCRETE, PRACTICAL ACTION-STEPS:

Many think about becoming missionaries but never do any more. If you want to be a missionary, begin with action...NOW. Talk to your elders, talk to sending agencies, begin to pray for people-groups throughout the world, and begin to cultivate a lifestyle that is consistent with missions.

(2) DEBT:

Many people are saddled with debt and the thought of paying off that debt to go to the field becomes too burdensome for them. Many young people, with good intentions, go to a bible school to equip themselves for missions and then, ironically, the fees for this equipping process becomes a major hindrance to them actually getting on the field.

(3) SPOUSES:

The prospect of serving as a single missionary is too much for some people. Many people think that once they land a spouse then they will go into missions, and then they discover that their spouse doesn't hold an intense desire to go to the field, thus disqualifying them from service.


Often a cute female will express missionary intent to a suitor and then .... ZAP! ... the man will suddenly become interested in missions...until love has blossomed and plans of marriage are solidified. This suitor may even believe themselves to desire missions, but what they truly desire is the love of this cute girl and the desire for missions wanes once the girl is landed.

Or a man will desire missions but may worry about his sexual purity or loneliness. Since it is better to marry than burn, he will find a spouse, hoping that this will enable him to live purer and fight lonelines so that he can then concentrate on the mission field. Yet, this wife comes with many family obligations, hesitations, or health issues, thus keeping him from the field. As the man pushes toward the field, he begins to resent her and she him.


(4) I AM NOT SURE THAT GOD IS CALLING ME


I had one friend vigorously repeat his missionary desires, but wasn't sure that God was calling him into missions. In fact, this friend regularly prayed that God would call him into missions because he so much desired to go...and yet he never went.

Why?

Because he had an overly mystical false view of the call. He never imagined that his intense desire was an evidence of that call and he never took practical action steps once he felt that desire. He never talked to his church leaders, he never investigated missionary organizations, he just harbored his private desires and prayed without doing any legwork - all in the name of "waiting on the Lord."



SOLUTIONS:

If you want to go into missions, take practical action steps. Know that a big part of the missionary call is your desire. Contact your church leaders and let them know and ask for advice and mentoring. Stay out of debt. Stay single or marry someone who is already preparing to go into missions (beginning your missions training now and attending missionary preparation courses is an excellent way of meeting other potential spouses who are already in the process of training for missions and of a like mind).

The Missionary Nature of the Church

“The Church is by nature missionary to the extent that, if it ceases to be missionary, it has not just failed in one of its tasks, it has ceased being Church.”

~J. Andrew Kirk



Missions is not something that the church DOES - it is something that the Church IS, and if a church stops being missionary than it is betraying its very identity.

Many define the marks of a church as, where the Gospel is rightly preached and the sacraments are rightly administered, yet the church's missionary nature must be part of this definition.

Five more essential books for missionary research

Three books for fitting in cross-culturally

Missions is evangelism, but it has a cross-cultural component. Missions entails crossing an ethno-linguistic barrier with the Gospel.

Therefore, a missionary must not only understand theology, they must be able to adapt in another culture and understand how theology applies across cultural barriers (all too often we export American theology without adequately understanding how much of what we value and do is actually culture and not Gospel). A missionary must not only be solid theologically, they must be a hearty and adaptable individual in order to be effective despite the rigors of culture shock and culture stress.


Here are 3 books to help one cope cross-culturally.


Cross-Cultural Connections by Duane Elmer,

Cross-Cultural Servanthood by Duane Elmer

and,

Ministering Cross-Culturally by Sherwood Lingenfelter.

Three more books for people considering missionary service

The Church is Bigger than you Think, by Patrick Johnstone, as well as Johnstone's Operation World and Bryant Myers Exploring World Missions.


These are essential books in showing the worldwise spread of the church and just how global our task is. Want to become a world Christian? Start by reading these books.

Books for people considering missions service

Missiology edited by John Mark Terry is a very packed book full of articles about missions. Not a first book for those wanting to serve, but a very good book for internediate research into missions.





Philip Jenkins' The Next Christendom gives a good overview of the current situation of Christianity in the world today. The faith is becoming less Western, for one thing and the majority of those that call themselves Christian in the world now are from Africa and Asia.



Thomas Hale's "On Being a Missionary" is a very good book for any wanting to go into missions.




John Piper's Let the Nations be Glad is a must read for all people considering missions.





More books will be added later.

MISSIO DEI - Whose mission is it anyway?

Now hear this!

Missions is not merely something that God’s people do. The Bible’s grand narrative is of a sending God, who has sent His Son into the world and who, with the Son, now sends us the Spirit, by which we ourselves are sent forth into the world. It is not “all about us,” missions is something God does.

God is, after all, the one constant. Read any missions history book. Man passes from the earth like grass, like vapor. The old hymn writer depicts the human condition this way, “We blossom and flourish as leaves on a tree, then wither and perish – but naught changeth Thee.” We are but supporting actors. We are but extras summoned for a brief moment in order to better display the character of the lead starring role.

God, who is the author of the production, stars Himself as the main character. It is our purpose to magnify Him and His work so that when the final credits roll only one name appears, the Name above all others who deserves all the glory, Revelation 7:10, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

I desire to briefly sketch two truths in this brief article:

• First, God is not following our lead, but is leading us. Let us not think we are doing grand things for God by going forth into the fields or by “holding the ropes” of those who do. God is doing grand things by leading us and allowing us to even take a small part.

• Second, God is not a God who merely engages in missions. God is, on the contrary, a missionary God. Missions is not merely one activity among many that our God engages in, missions flows from His very Being.

Now, let’s dig deeper into these truths.




First, God is not following our lead. He is out front.


If missions depended upon us, what a pitiful state! What a pitiful God! What a pitiful future! If God waited for our initiative or relied upon our strength, the situation would be hopeless.

I once heard a Baptist missionary proclaim that God needed us to save the heathen. He stated that the salvation of those who had never heard rested upon us. The missionary call had been given to all of us; the question was whether or not we were going to obey it.

Hear this! God is not frail, He marches on. And He marches only to His own drum, whose beat is neither late nor rushed. The pace may appear slow to us, but God is covering the whole earth with His glory like the waters that cover the seas.

God reaches outward with the spreading fingers of His bright glory like the sun reaching through clefts of mountain at daybreak, the dawning light changing from sharp slivers of isolated light to a general enveloping brightness, slowly engulfing everything in its wake. His wonderful name is lighting the last jungle tribes of Irian Jaya, and will yet penetrate the dark deserts of Arabia.





Isaac Watts paints this glory in a paraphrase of Psalm 72, my favorite hymn:

Jesus shall reign wher’er the Sun,
doth its successive journeys run.
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
till moons shall wax and wane no more.




God is the one spreading His glory. When a church sends a missionary, God is not in their debt. God is pleased when someone steps out in service to Him, but this pleasure is not the relieved pleasure of a General in wartime, thankful for a few more recruits to throw at the frontline. This is the pleasure of a Father who delights to include his children in His own work. The church that sends a missionary merely gains the privilege of fellowship and participation in the work of this sending God.

Jesus describes the situation thusly, “Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” (John 20:21). Worshipping this sending God, we become a sending people.




Second, God does not merely “do” missions; He is Himself missionary


God takes the supreme place as the first and greatest missionary. God is the one who does mission and this “doing” springs from His “being,” and we are not so much “doers” of missions at all but “witnesses” (Acts 1:8) to what God is doing. God does not merely have a mission for His church. On the contrary, God has a church for His mission. Likewise, the Bible does not merely contain information about missions. It is, itself, a missionary document. Forget about the question about whether there is a “Biblical basis for missions” or not. There is, instead, a missionary basis for the Bible, that record of God’s self-revealing mission.

Let’s be clear, God does not merely “do missions,” God is a God who is missionary in His being. The very being of God throbs with a missional pulse, a constant willful self-revealing of His glory. God delights in blessing the nations and in spreading His glory. Why else did God create the world? Out of loneliness? God forbid! His love bubbled over and could not be contained. He is the All-Glorious who created the universe as a stage to display that glory.

It is comforting to know that missionary work has a Trinitarian basis! God is a Trinitarian being, who sends and is sent and God’s people, being filled with the Spirit of God, likewise reflect this nature. God the Father sends the Son and the Father and Son jointly send the Spirit which is poured into the church, who is then sent out into the world. God is a missionary who loves His people, whose Son veiled His glory in human flesh to become first an example and then an adequate sacrifice for His People. And now God has sent His Spirit to indwell this same People to empower us to go out into the world as witnesses, sent out to be blessings to still yet others.



Let me sketch another analogy of missions as Trinitarian involvement:

Imagine a father killing a snake loitering on the front door. This father then gives the stick to his young child so that the child, too, can take a few whacks at the dying snake. “Good job!” encourages the father. If the child’s hands waver, the father is there to steady them. Though the parent is the one who has accomplished the final victory, the father delights to include his children whom he loves, for the pleasure of the parent and the furtherance of the teaching of the child.

Praise God! We can participate! Though it is God’s mission, He gives us a part. He has won the victory and has crushed the Serpent’s head but still allows us to tread Satan under our feet.

God has conquered through the sending of his Son and now sends us to gather the spoil. God gives us the Spirit to steady weak arms and through God’s inclusion of us into His own mission, we learn more about our Sending God and His Son Jesus Christ, the Sent-Out one who includes us in His work by the Spirit.

God, by the death of His Son, reconciles the world to Himself and sends us forth, giving us the message of reconciliation (II Corinthians 5:19).






A FINAL PRAYER:

Dear Father,

Ultimately, you send us to reap wherein we have bestowed no labor. Another has done the work, and yet we take part in His labors. We look at the fields white for harvest and we pray for the privilege of participation in gathering in this precious wheat. Oh Lord, thank you that we together, You who plant and we who are allowed to harvest, are able to share in this joy together.

Thank you Lord for allowing us to reap the fruit of your labors.